Lead Editor

Department: Epoch AI

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Remote

Reporting To: Maria de la Lama

Compensation: $90,000 - $150,000 / year

Description

We're seeking a Lead Editor to bring our research to a wider audience while maintaining a consistent style and our high standard of quality. Key responsibilities will include helping our researchers turn their technical reports into blog posts and newsletter updates, as well as developing and executing a social media content strategy. 

About the role and team

Note: We used to advertise for this role as "Communications Lead," but we have renamed it to emphasize the importance of hands-on technical writing and editing over strategy. 

Epoch AI is rapidly growing and advising key players on AI's trajectory, but our research isn't reaching all the decision-makers and public audiences it should. We're looking for an editor to help change that—someone who can sharpen and shape our messaging, expand our reach, and ensure our insights drive discussions about AI's future.
You'll be the main point person for external communications at Epoch. The most important responsibilities, in rough order of importance, are:

• Research communication and editorial oversight: Work with researchers to turn technical papers and analyses into blog posts, tweets, newsletters, and other formats. Help researchers refine their writing and develop and maintain style guidelines, and ensure all content meets Epoch AI's high standards for technical accuracy and accessibility.
• Social media management: Develop and execute our content strategy across X, LinkedIn, and other platforms. Craft compelling posts and threads that make our research accessible, grow our following, and establish Epoch AI as an authoritative voice in AI progress discussions. Run advertising campaigns.
• Podcast and multimedia content: Direct the creation and promotion of video materials (e.g. podcast episodes) and other multimedia content that effectively communicates our research. 
• Media and promotion: Build and maintain relationships with journalists and content creators. Pitch our research findings to media outlets and cultivate strategic partnerships to expand Epoch's reach and visibility. Systematically track media mentions and coverage.
• Website content and SEO: Work closely with our product designer to develop and execute our website content strategy. Collaborate on information architecture and oversee SEO efforts to ensure our research is easily discoverable by relevant audiences.
• Public appearances and response coordination: Help the organization manage our public image, develop response strategies for sensitive situations, and support the team as required for public appearances.

We realize these are potentially too many responsibilities, and we’d encourage you to partly rely on the rest of the team or find and manage contractors to own some of them.

The successful candidate will report to María de la Lama, Head of Operations. 

What we are looking for

The person in this role will grow our public presence by translating our technical research for a wider audience. Ideal candidates will have multiple years of experience in technical writing or have led editing projects for technical research organizations. You should be deeply familiar with AI governance discussions, knowledgeable about technical AI safety topics, and skilled at turning complex research into compelling narratives.

We think you would be a great candidate for this role if you:

• Are skilled at and have a proven track record in communicating complex topics compellingly and effectively. This may be reflected, in having grown an audience and/or managed successful social media campaigns in a technical field.
• Have exceptional writing skills, with a demonstrated ability to grasp complex technical concepts, make them accessible to different audiences, and communicate about them in an engaging way.
• Are deeply embedded in current discussions about the development of AI, and are very familiar with Epoch's research focus on empirically tracking and forecasting AI progress (e.g., you can explain our key research contributions and how they fit into the broader AI landscape).
• Have an ownership mindset—you can drive high-level planning while also being comfortable with hands-on execution, obsessing over every detail and taking initiative to do whatever is needed for impact. This includes having creative problem-solving skills and a gro